Question

Why does genetic drift have more of an impact on the evolution of small populations than large ones?



Small populations have greater rates of mutation.



Small populations are affected more by stabilizing selection.



Sampling from generation to generation is more variable in small populations than large.



Small populations are more prone to migration.



Small populations are less affected by mutations.

Answer 1

@Jamierox4ev3r

Answer 2

Okay, so the answers are weird here. Like I feel like none of them make sense

Answer 3

I know for sure it would't be: Small populations are less affected by mutations.

Answer 4

maybe it is that small populations are more affected by stabilizing selection. Because if a small population begins to favor a neutral genotype, then practically all the individuals will end up with the same genotype over a small amount of time because there are a low quantity of individuals

Answer 5

I mean, the smaller the population, the more susceptible it is to random changes

Answer 6

True, but genetic drift doesn't really have anything to do with mutation
Just the fact that their alleles random change over time

Answer 7

*can* randomly change

Answer 8

Right, definitely agree with you on that one

Answer 9

So which answer do you think fits best with what we concluded?

Answer 10

And the "more variable" answer doesn't make sense because it would be more variable in a larger population...

Answer 11

B makes more sense to me

Answer 12

True. And also, a smaller population would be less variable because there are less individuals that are more prone to selective pressures

Answer 13

^ yup

Answer 14

Okay, I have more. Sorry to keep bombarding you with questions

Answer 15

So if the stabilizing allele disappeared or something, this would probably have a much more significant impact on a small population because it would wipe out many more individuals. The more I think of this, the more sense it makes. but idk RIP